
username;
Bill Ciforce
name;
Mitexi
gender;
Female
"Ah- I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
They were words she repeated often, typically much to the disdain of those disturbed when she wandered a bit too close to and bumped up against.
"Pull your hair back so you can see, jeez."
They were words she heard often in reply.
"I... do not mean to be rude, but I would rather not."
They were words she answered with all too often.
"Then get out of here before you smack into a wall or run into someone else or have a pot of coffee dropped on your head or something, for gods sake."
They were incidents far from unknown to her.
"Yes... I understand. Sorry for troubling you."
---
"So... Why do you hide your eyes, anyway?" the jeweler inquired, holding up a gemstone to her customer's ear before shaking her head and setting it back down.
"They have... never functioned properly," Mitexi answered. "I... see no reason to utilize that which is broken and merely make things worse."
"Oh... You mean you're blind?" She tilted her head and scrunched up her face. "So then you can't even see my work..."
"I am... blind, I suppose... But not... Not in the manner you thing of, I'm fairly certain," the long-haired Kalon replied. "And... for the record... I do see your work, sometimes... You have a way with metal and stone which makes them come together beautifully."
"Oh? Well, thank you," The orange-furred Kalon said, plucking a different stone from the counter as a comparison and nodding in approval. "So... If you're not blind in the traditional sense, then how are you blind? If you don't mind me asking."
"You... wish to know?"
"Of course! If you'd be willing to tell, at least. Maybe, if I knew more about it, I could help! I mean..." She paused. "Well, I couldn't fix your vision, of course, but I might be able to adapt my store to better suit your needs."
"You would do that?" she asked.
"Of course. You're my best customer, after all!" She laughed, though she was only half-joking. Her store hadn't seen much business as of late - At this point, if it would help keep her most regular customer interested in her work, she would go so far as to consider fighting a dragon for its precious hoard.
"That is... very kind of you, Galena. But... I believe the conditions that would help me are not reasonable for you."
"Try me," she replied, turning to poke around beneath the counter in search of a proper setting.
"I... Very well," Mitexi said. "My right eye is nyctalopic... that is to say, I have night-blindness in that eye. As soon as the sun sets, I cannot see a thing out of that eye except darkness and the occasional flicker of flame or spark of light from a lamp."
"Oh, really? I think my father developed that when he got older," Galena said. "You should try adding sweet potatoes to your diet. It wasn't perfect, but it helped him a bit."
"Ah... Yes, I've tried that. I've been nyctalopic in that eye ever since I was an infant, though... Oguchi, I believe they referred to it as."
"I see... And your left eye?"
"Hemeralopic - Day blindness, in other words. Hypersensitivity to light, also since I was a kit. The doctors were quite surprised to find I had not only one form of light-processing problem, but two... and that they were opposites and each affected only one eye. There was no such history of these vision impairments on my family, as we understood it..." She shook her head. "Regardless. I can barely see a thing during the day and in well-lit places out of my left eye."
"Huh... So you can't see during the day in one eye and during the night in the other? No wonder you cover your eyes. Trying to focus with vision like that would drive me insane," Galena said, pulling up a clasp and comparing it to the gen she'd picked out. "So, you can only see out of one eye at a time, then?"
"Well... Mostly, yes. My vision improves a bit in low lighting, like at dawn or dusk, but..."
"Oh? Here, then, here, let me just..." she set the jewelry down and hopped over the counter, whereupon she flipped a switch on the wall and the lighting in the store dimmed. "There! I just shut off the overhead lighting. The ambient lights are still on, but they're not super bright, so..."
"So you would... like me to pull my hair back and see if I can see decently in this lighting?"
"Exactly!"
"But... what of your work? Surely you can't work in darkness-"
"I can get a smaller lamp! Besides, it usually takes a day or two to finish your orders, you know? You can help decide on the design in the low lighting like this, and then I can work on it in my normal light while you're out!"
"...That makes sense, I suppose..." Mitexi admitted. "Very well... Would you be willing to assist me with my hair? There's quite a lot of it..."
"Sure thing!"
When they pulled back her hair and she looked out into the store, Galena saw her eyes in the reflection of a mirror. Mismatched, just as her vision was - One pupil reflected the shadows of a night sky, and the other was bright like sunlight on a full moon. Though they weren't the most effective when it came to their jobs... Aesthetically, they suited her, she thought.
"...I can see fairly well like this," Mitexi mused. "You are... certain that you would be comfortable working under these conditions?"
"Of course, of course! Here, here, hold your hair, let me bring this mirror out into the open..." She scrambled over to the silver glass and pulled it towards her customer. "Alright, can you see your reflection in the mirror?"
"Mmm... Yes, I seem to be able to."
"Great!" She pulled the stones she'd picked out earlier out and held them up to her ear. "Now, give me your opinion on this piece. White opal, or pearl?"
"...I like the opal, I think."
"Hah! My thoughts exactly. Your vision can't change your fine taste, at least!"